Cape fear: Affleck tells fans he’s still The Batman
SAN DIEGO Ben Affleck is still Batman. The actor shot down rumours he would be hanging up his cape for the stand-alone Batman film, even though he recently ceded directing responsibilities.
Speaking to a crowd of about 6,500 fans at San Diego ComicCon, Affleck unequivocally assured the crowd that he is still starring in The Batman.
On July 21, the trade publication The Hollywood Reporter published a report that Warner Bros. was working on plans to “usher out Affleck’s Batman gracefully” and suggested it might happen before The Batman. The report threatened to overshadow Warner Bros.’s flashy presentation on July 22, which was focused on hyping the studio’s big superhero mashup film Justice League, which hits theatres in November.
“Let me be very clear. I am the luckiest guy in the world. Batman is the coolest part in any universe, DC or Marvel,” Affleck said. He wanted to knock down the idea he wasn’t committed to the character, even though he won’t be directing.
Affleck praised director Matt Reeves’s vision and said he would “be an ape on the ground for Matt Reeves.” Reeves recently directed War for the Planet of the Apes.
With the cloud lifted, Affleck and his fellow Justice League stars Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller and Ray Fisher were left to talk about the upcoming film, which has had its own share of upheaval recently when director Zack Snyder exited for personal reasons and Joss Whedon took over the reshoots and completion of the film.
Neither Snyder nor Whedon were at Comic-Con, although Snyder tweeted he was sending his best to the Justice League team.
The footage focused heavily on Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman, who emerged as the clear favourite of the fans in the audience who screamed at every shot of the Amazonian warrior. Wonder Woman recently became the highest grossing of the four DC Extended Universe films.
Another person missing from the panel was Superman star Henry Cavill. When a young fan asked the actors if he’ll show up in the film, Gadot reassured him. “We can’t say much but if you love Superman you’re going to be very, very happy,” she said.
Warner Bros. also teased a bit of Aquaman, out December 2018, starring Momoa in the title role. A snippet of footage from the James Wan-directed film, showed fishermen who are quite surprised when something under the water catches onto the hook and starts dragging the boat along. They look underwater to see a fleet of giant ships coasting under the surface.
Momoa also teased Ocean Master would be the film’s main villain, though he laughed he would likely get in trouble for it.